IWTC Monterey Sailors Participate in Cultural Immersion Activities

MONTEREY, Calif. – At the Defense Language Institute (DLI), Sailors assigned to Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Monterey are focused on their Navy military job specialty training, while also immersed in their target language classes, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  
 
That is the baseline for language acquisition. However, many Sailors are at the schoolhouse by 7 a.m., stay until 4 p.m., and attend extra study sessions later in the evening, while still completing their daily homework and meeting other Navy training obligations. 
 
You may wonder how a Sailor can be further immersed. Short of going to the target language country, which is near impossible for a Russian or Farsi student, some Sailors get the opportunity to travel to locations within the U.S. and be a part of cultural immersions. There they exist in their target language for nearly 12 straight hours per day, seven days a week for two weeks. 
 
“[The Persian-Farsi Schoolhouse] at DLI offers few speaking opportunities after the school day,” noted one participating Sailor. “The immersion offered near constant speaking practice.”
 
U.S. Army Sgt. Adam Jones, a military language instructor (MLI) and immersion chaperone, also noted the difference between the day-to-day DLI experience and the cultural immersion.
 
“DLI is stressful, and it was clear from the start of the immersion how much more [the students] were able to invest in the language when it was learned through engaging in fun activities. From playing ping pong, eating lunch, or sitting by a fire with the teachers, there was never a moment where learning wasn't occurring.”
 
For nearly two years during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, service members attending language training at DLI experienced both a completely virtual learning environment and mask-wearing in the classroom – something most linguists would agree is extremely challenging for initial language learning, especially with DLI’s pace of instruction. During that time all immersion opportunities also remained on hold.
 
With some light at the end of the tunnel, and an almost fully vaccinated student and staff population, DLI reopened cultural immersion opportunities in April this year. Since then several Sailors have been able to take advantage of this opportunity not afforded to those attending training previously during the pandemic.
 
While the first post-COVID immersion was a success, with very positive feedback overall, it wasn’t without its obstacles. 
 
“It might be triple the work and a lot of crisis management, but we have been making it happen,” said Sameera Sharif, DLI immersion specialist. 
 
Among the challenges, the team had to re-establish relationships with internal and external stake-holders, work with the travel office, secure COVID testing for flights, manage flight delays and changes, and deal with COVID positive cases; the immersion specialists truly have had their work cut out for them.  
 
The cultural immersion site at Concordia, Minn., a location the program has used since 2018, transforms Minnesota’s North Woods into culturally authentic language villages; naming cabins after significant places and dedicating some to culturally relevant activities, such as the Russian-style banyas (saunas) and the Bolshoi Theater. While authentic, some students pointed out that the accommodations were variable and perhaps a bit too rustic for some.
 
Meals are always done family-style with authentic cuisine related to the target language.
 
One of the Sailors who attended the immersion in April noted, “At each meal, we would speak in Russian about any topic under the sun, and the instructors sat alongside us and spoke with us.”  He continued, “At dinner, we would read and discuss answers to the question of the day, tell a joke, a tongue-twister, give the saying, or vocabulary word of the day, and then carry on eating and speaking in Russian.”
 
With the long days and varying challenges, cultural immersion constantly pushes the students to step outside their comfort zones and to maintain a high level of autonomy and motivation.
 
“I really cannot say enough about the benefits of attending,” said Jones. “Of course, it is what you make it. You have to put in the effort, but if you do, there are a lot of positive take aways.”
 
“The immersion was naturally kind of difficult,” the April student said, “but got easier as days passed, and the brain became used to Russian. It gave me a lot of confidence while speaking and it reinvigorated my interest in things to do with the target language, and I have since made use of much more authentic material and spoken more.”
 
Sharif concurred saying, “What I have learned throughout my after-action report sessions over six years and more than 40 immersions, students are more confident in speaking and more motivated. Chatting in the target language all the time does not feel like practice, it becomes their language…some students say that they dream in the target language.”
 
For some, the experience was so immersive, that the adjustment on both sides of the experience was a bit jarring. 
 
“Being away from my spouse was a challenge,” noted a Farsi-language student. “Another challenge was adjusting [to being] away from military life then adjusting back to military duties, including life back at the schoolhouse.”

Not only does the experience provide the benefits that improve a Sailor’s confidence and background cultural knowledge, but the numbers also don’t lie. DLI found in a study of Arabic, Chinese, and Korean schools, immersion students were 20 percent more likely to pass the end of course Defense Language Proficiency Test, with a further 10 percent exceeding standards.
 
Students and staff at IWTC Monterey continue to make the push towards normalcy. Previously language students have been sent to nine different overseas immersions around the globe; the return to that will take time. 
 
“After COVID, due to restrictions, we are only sending students overseas to Korea, Oman and Ecuador in the next couple of months. Within the U.S., we send them to San Diego and Concordia,” said Sharif. 
 
While the return to the full pre-pandemic cultural immersion program will take time, the Sailors of IWTC Monterey are excited for the opportunities ahead.

With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, Center for Information Warfare Training trains over 26,000 students every year, delivering trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. Center for Information Warfare Training also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists, information systems technicians, electronics technicians, and officers in the information warfare community.